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Memorable moment

Another memorable moment

Behind the scenes video

The Reign of Terror was the eighth and final story of the first season of Doctor Who. It was the first story to use location filming, the first to feature a pre-pubescent actor in a speaking role, and the first to show the full-sized TARDIS prop materialising. It also heralded the arrival of writer and future script editorDennis Spooner to the programme. It is the only season finale not to have any science fiction elements whatsoever, apart from the TARDIS and its crew.

Currently, the original master copies of episodes 4 and 5 remain missing from the BBC archive. However, the missing episodes have been reconstructed in animated format for the 2013 DVD release of the serial. Though the actual footage is yet to be recovered, both episodes retain the full-length audio soundtracks originally recorded during production.

The Doctor and his companions fail to realise their danger in revolutionary France.

The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan arrive at a destination that the Doctor assures his guests is 1960s Earth. He intends throwing Ian and Barbara out there and then, but they butter him up and convince him that they should just check to see if he has been accurate in his landing of the craft.

When they leave the TARDIS it is clear that it is Earth but they note how dark it is and that there appear to be no street lights around. While Ian investigates he finds a small feral boy in the wood. After questioning, the boy informs the travellers that they are 12 km from Paris. The Doctor states that 100 miles[1] from the intended destination — whilst not perfect — is pretty good. Before they can question the boy any more, he runs off. The foursome continue to explore and eventually find an abandoned house. They split up and explore it. Barbara, Ian, and Susan begin to suspect that the Doctor has not been as accurate as he imagined when they find 18th century furniture and clothes around the house. They also find fake papers, some of which bear the signature of Robespierre, the chief orchestrator of government during the Reign of Terror in the year 1794. They deduce the farmhouse is being used as a staging post in an escape chain for counter-revolutionaries. They put on some of the clothes so as to not look conspicuous to the others when they go back to the TARDIS. Ian goes to look for the Doctor, but as he leaves he is accosted by two counter-revolutionaries named D'Argenson and Rouvray. They hold a gun to Barbara, Ian, and Susan and try to ascertain if they are loyal to the revolution or are counter-revolutionaries like themselves. They ask if they are travelling alone. Barbara replies in the affirmative. Rouvray says that this is a lie as they have found the Doctor upstairs. They assure them that he is all right, but they are still hostile to the travellers.

The impasse is ended when a band of revolutionary soldiers surrounds the house and demands their collective surrender. Instead of storming the house they wait outside, counting on the counter-revolutionaries to lose their nerve. This ploy bears fruit when D'Argenson, who has seemed nervous from the off, gives himself up, thinking that his surrender will spare him the guillotine. Reluctantly Rouvray joins him. They are both killed.

The soldiers now enter the house and capture Ian, Barbara, and Susan, thinking they are counter-revolutionaries also. They inform them that they will be marched to Paris and the guillotine. The parting action of the soldiers is to set fire to the farmhouse — unaware the Doctor is inside. The travellers stare at the house as the roof falls in and the Doctor lies unconscious on the floor.

Once in Paris, Barbara, Ian, and Susan are sentenced to death for being traitors to the Revolution. They are swiftly imprisoned, with Ian put in a separate cell from Susan and Barbara. Once Ian has been dispatched, the lecherous prison warden says that he would be able to help the two girls escape, but Barbara turns this down, sensing that he would ask for a little more than the "company" he says he seeks. Susan is distraught at their predicament and confides to Barbara that she is worried about her grandfather, fearing his death.

However, the Doctor is not dead. He was saved from the blaze by the young boy that they encountered outside the TARDIS. He informs the Doctor that his companions have been taken to the Conciergerie Prison in Paris. After thanking the boy, he sets off after them.

Barbara begins to plot a way out of their cell. She notices that the wall to her cell is wet, and that means that there must be some kind of sewer system below the cell. She thinks that the moistness of the wall means that with a bit of time and effort she could pry one of the bricks out from the wall. She sets about doing this using one of the planks of the bed as a primitive crow bar. Meanwhile Ian has been put in a cell with a dying man by the name of Webster. Webster is also English and with his dying breath tells Ian that he has been sent over from England to find a James Stirling who has precious information that will help England fight the inevitable war with France. Webster makes Ian promise to seek out Stirling and tell him to return to England. Ian promises that he will do so; Webster then dies.

The Doctor, on his way to Paris, encounters a chain gang. He asks the leader of the chain gang, who is aggressive and violent to the men he leads, whether he is on the road to Paris, to which the leader responds in the affirmative. The leader complains that his men are slow and that he has been ordered to finish this section of the road before tomorrow. The Doctor suggests that instead of being violent towards his men he should aid them in their effort. The leader responds badly to this, insists on seeing the Doctor's identification papers and, when he can't provide them, orders him to join in the manual work.

Back in the prison the girls are startled when they are almost discovered digging their hole. Their work is brought to a halt later when they discover that rats are coming in through the hole and infesting their cell. Because Susan is distraught at this, Barbara says they will stop. Over in Ian's cell a nobleman named Lemaitre comes in and inspects the body of Webster. He orders Ian to tell him whether Webster said anything to him before his death. Ian tells the man that he didn't, but the prison warden states he heard them talking. The nobleman takes Ian's name off the list of people to be executed.

Meanwhile back at the chain gang, the Doctor has devised a plan whereby he will gain his freedom as well as the freedom of the other men. He creates a distraction for the leader by saying that there is to be an eclipse. As the leader looks to the Sun, the Doctor steals some money from the leader's purse. As the men go back to their digging the Doctor hides some money in the soil and pretends to uncover it, saying that he has found buried treasure. The greedy leader begins to take over the digging, and whilst he is distracted the Doctor knocks him over the head, rendering him unconscious. As the Doctor moves on he passes a sign indicating he is 5 km from Paris. However, it may be too late as the prison warden comes to Barbara and Susan's cell and informs them that it is time for their execution. As they are led out to the wagon to lead them to their death, Ian looks out of his prison window in shock.

By this time the Doctor has arrived in Paris and starts to track down his companions. Meanwhile in another part of Paris the wagon carrying Susan and Barbara halts temporarily to change horses. Barbara suggests that they could use this opportunity to run, but Susan has too much of a headache. Barbara seems resigned to their fate.

Luckily for them their transport is hijacked by two men, Jules and Jean, who kill the guards and spirit them back to their safe house.

Back at the prison the jailer is serving food to the inmates when he is called away by Lemaitre. In his rush to get to his superior he leaves his set of keys in the lock. While he is gone Ian finds the keys in the lock, reaches them through the grate, removes the key to his cell, and places another key in the lock. When the jailer returns he does not notice the difference and thinks he has got away with his forgetfulness.

The Doctor wanders the streets and comes across a clothes shop. He gives the shopkeeper all of his clothes, including his ring, for the clothes of a Regional Officer of the Provinces.

In the prison Ian takes an opportunity whilst the jailer is drunk to sneak out of the prison. As he does, Lemaitre is watching his every move. Once Ian has gone, Lemaitre speculates that his escape would be the only way to see if Webster had said anything about Stirling to Ian before he died.

Back at the safe house Barbara and Susan are told they will be given food and a place to rest, and then they will be smuggled out of France in the escape chain, but Barbara says they can't leave France without the Doctor and Ian. Jules and Jean reassure her they will try to reunite the four travellers. When Barbara and Susan tell them how they came to be arrested, they mention the house in the woods that was burnt down. This shocks the two men, who ask if D'Argenson and Rouvray were there. When the girls tell them that they were and that they were killed by the soldiers, Jules informs them that this house was being used as a safe house and that D'Argenson and Rouvray were people that they had saved. Jean and Jules speculate that there must be a traitor in their midst who is giving away the locations of their safe houses. At this point Susan becomes ill again and Barbara takes her to bed. Another counter-revolutionary, Léon Colbert, arrives and joins their company, quickly striking up a romantic flirtation with Barbara.

In his new guise of Regional Officer of the Provinces, the Doctor forces his way into the Conciergerie, but by the time he gets there he is informed by the jailer that all three have gone. The Doctor ascertains what has happened to his friends and is about to leave when Lemaitre arrives and insists he accompany him to visit First Deputy Robespierre to report on his province. Once he has gone, the shopkeeper comes to the jailer to inform Lemaitre of something important. The jailer says that he cannot be interrupted as he is with Robespierre. The shopkeeper says it's important as he has proof of a traitor — as he says this, he displays the Doctor's ring.

Lemaitre takes the Doctor to an audience with the "Tyrant of France" himself, who appears as both a zealot and a psychopath with his constant talk of needing to increase the pace of execution. Little the Doctor can say to the contrary seems to have any sway, but by the end of the meeting Robespierre seems to have warmed to the Doctor and asks if he can return tomorrow.

Meanwhile at the rebel's house Susan is still desperately unwell. Léon takes it upon himself to find a physician for her. This puts him in the good books of Barbara even more. Barbara and Susan are left by themselves as Jules and Jean are checking out one of their hideouts. They are shocked to see someone in there. Jules sneaks in and strikes the man. Little do they know it is Ian.

When the Doctor and Lemaitre return to jail, the Doctor tries to make excuses and leave, but a mixture of Lemaitre's insistence and threats from the jailer force the Doctor to stay. When Lemaitre returns to his quarters, he finds the shopkeeper there who informs him of the true nature of the Doctor He gives the shopkeeper a bag of gold in return for the Doctor's ring and clothes. He then shows the shopkeeper out.

On returning back to their house with the prostrate body of Ian, Jules and Jean are shocked to find that the interloper is the friend of Barbara. Ian says that he was told to wait for Jules there in order to find the whereabouts of James Stirling. He is disappointed to be informed that Jules has no idea who Stirling is; however, Ian is told that Léon may have more of an idea. Jules arranges a meeting between Ian and Léon. Danielle comes and informs the men that the physician will not visit the house for fear of retribution. It is reluctantly decided that Barbara should take Susan there.

On their arriving at the physician's, he seems suspicious but willing to treat Susan. He leaves to get some supplies, and when a suspicious Susan tries to leave they discover that they have been locked in. The physician is a spy and has informed the soldiers of Barbara and Susan's whereabouts. Before they know what has happened, they have been re-arrested and taken back to prison. Knowing full well the connections between his guests, Lemaitre summons the Doctor to interrogate Barbara only to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Whilst all this is happening, Ian is going to meet Léon in an abandoned church crypt. As he sees Léon, several soldiers step from the shadows and surround Ian as Léon tells Ian he's walked right into his trap.

Léon explains that he has trapped Ian so as to extract information from him. Ian insists that he is no part of the protection ring that is run by Jules, but Léon does not believe him.

Meanwhile at the Conciergerie, Lemaitre's plan to overhear information during the conversation between the Doctor and Barbara comes to fruition when he overhears Barbara whisper the address of Jules' safehouse to the Doctor. Once Lemaitre has gone, the Doctor convinces the jailer that Barbara is a powerful member of the protection racket and that she could hold the key to every rebel in France. He convinces the jailer that the only way to get this information from her is to allow her to walk free and follow her to her rebel alliances. The jailer unlocks the door, allowing Barbara to escape.

As Barbara leaves the prison for Jules' house, Jules returns to find Barbara and Ian gone. Jules goes to the church where he knew that Ian was to meet Léon and finds him held captive. He takes the captors by surprise and kills them both so as to liberate Ian.

Back at the Conciergerie, the Doctor tries to trick the jailer yet again, suggesting that he allow Susan to go free in order to follow her, just as he did with Barbara. The jailer is reluctant to do this as he fears retribution from his superiors. These self-same superiors are in conversation with one another in Robespierre's chambers. Robespierre tells Lemaitre that he suspects his deputy, Paul Barras, is planning to conspire against him in an upcoming convention. He asks Lemaitre to track Barras the following day to a secret assignation outside the city to gain more information on this.

Ian and Jules return to the safe house and are surprised to see Barbara, who informs them that the Doctor has infiltrated the prison and released her and is planning to do the same with Susan. Ian receives this news with great humour. Conversely, Barbara is disgusted when she hears that Jules has killed Léon , as she is unable to distinguish between the man and the deeds that he was committing.

Unable to play the same trick on the jailer for the second time, the Doctor convinces Susan that she should hide behind the door so that from outside the cell she would remain unseen. Once in position the Doctor pretends that she has escaped. When the jailer opens the door in shock to inspect how she exited the cell, the Doctor hits him over the head with a bottle. As Susan and the Doctor make their escape they are stopped in their tracks by Lemaitre, who reveals to the Doctor that he has been aware of his duplicity from the start and has been orchestrating the successive release and recapture of his companions from the start. The Doctor denies that he is in disguise but is forced to take Lemaitre to the safe house as Lemaitre threatens Susan's life unless he does so.

Barbara, Ian and Jules are waiting anxiously for the Doctor, but are shocked when he arrives, not with Susan in tow but with Lemaitre. Renan announces that the Doctor has betrayed them.

Lemaitre reveals that he has been orchestrating the releases and recapture of the Doctor's companions since the beginning. When Ian questions why he would do this, Lemaitre reveals he is in fact James Stirling. Stirling was placed deep undercover and was supposed to intercept Webster at the prison but was too late. Ian relays Webster's message that Stirling should return to England immediately. The spy agrees but presses Ian for more detail on Webster's last hours. Initially, Ian can't remember any details, but when Stirling begins to talk about the fact he was called to follow Barras for Robespierre, Ian recalls the words, "Barras, meeting, and the "Sinking Ship.'" Stirling recalls that this is the name of an inn on the Calais Road and they realise that is where the conspiracy against the First Deputy will take place. It is decided that Jules, Ian, and Barbara be placed there undercover in order to gain information from the meeting.

Jules, disguised as a guest, and Ian and Barbara, disguised as landlord and serving-woman, are undercover at the inn. When Barras appears, he seems unsure at first but soon warms to the place. Eventually a young man enters, and initially Ian and Barbara don't know who it is. However, they soon find out it is Napoléon Bonaparte. Through a hole Ian made in the wall, Ian and Barbara hear Barras seek to persuade the young general to take the mantle of leadership after the overthrow of Robespierre as one of three consuls. Napoléon urges Barras to topple Robespierre but warns him that if this fails to happen he will deny this meeting ever took place.

The following day Jules and Ian speed off to stop Robespierre's imprisonment — an act which Barbara finds amusing because she knows history cannot be changed. By the time Jules and Ian get there, the coup against Robespierre has begun, and the tyrant has been shot in the mouth before being seized himself and sent to the Conciergerie.

While this is happening, the Doctor reaches the prison, where he outwits the jailer one more time by convincing him that Lemaitre has been captured as a traitor and that the jailer is an associate of his and will be soon thrown into prison himself. The Doctor then wins the jailer around by being lenient with him. He suggests that the prison be cleared in preparation for the huge influx of traitors that will be brought — ensuring that Susan is freed in order to escape with them. As they leave through one door, the bleeding Robespierre is brought in by another, his body broken and his rule ended. Soon, he will be guillotined himself.

The escape chain now demonstrates itself to best effect and smuggles several people out of Paris. Stirling will head for Calais and thence to England; Jules and Jean will lie low as they measure the future now that Robespierre has fallen; and the Doctor and his companions are to return to the TARDIS in the woods near Paris, reflecting on another brush with history and their role within it — especially the fact that history has a way of remaining resilient to human change and that their journeys in the future are up to the stars.

The programme's earliest location work features in "Guests of Madame Guillotine". It includes no series regulars; Brian Proudfoot doubles for William Hartnell in these scenes.

This was the first Doctor Who story to feature location filming.

Only the first, second, third and sixth episodes — "A Land of Fear", "Guests of Madame Guillotine", "A Change of Identity" and "Prisoners of Conciergerie" — exist in the BBC Archives as 16mm telerecordings.

The working title of this story was The French Revolution.

"Prisoners of Conciergerie" was returned by a private collector in May 1982.

Prints of all four existing episodes were recovered from a Cypriot television station in 1985. These included a superior print of "Guests of Madame Guillotine".

Twelve clips from the missing fourth and fifth episodes, "The Tyrant of France" and "A Bargain of Necessity", exist in the form of 8mm cine film.

"Guests of Madame Guillotine" used the working title "Guests of the Guillotine".

The first use of an establishing on-screen caption in Doctor Who is featured in "Guests of Madame Guillotine": the word "PARIS" is superimposed over a piece of artwork showing the French capital.

William Russell originally suggested the idea of a story set during the French Revolution.

Hungarian director Henric Hirsch, inexperienced in working for television, had difficulty coping with the cramped Lime Grove studios, out-of-order shooting sequences and William Hartnell's lack of respect for him. As a result, he collapsed during shooting of the third episode. As Verity Lambert and production assistant Timothy Combe both felt unable to run a studio, a short term replacement for Hirsch was found; Combe believes this to have been John Gorrie, who previously directed The Keys of Marinus (although Gorrie stated that he has no memory of directing that episode), or possibly associate producer Mervyn Pinfield. No additional director is credited on-screen. Hirsch recovered in time for the filming of episode four, with his troubles eased by the production moving to Television Centre, Combe taking on some of the director's duties and Hartnell being more considerate of his manner towards the director.

The three shots of the Doctor walking through Paris were the first instance of location filming for Doctor Who. The location filming actually took place at Denham and Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire. In these shots, Brian Proudfoot had to double for William Hartnell as the Doctor. Brian Proudfoot attended the studio recording so he could shadow William Hartnell to study his movements and walk so he could double for him in the location shoot. According to Carole Ann Ford, this annoyed the actor immensely.

William Russell was on holiday during the filming of "Guests of Madame Guillotine" and "A Change of Identity" and appeared only in pre-recorded film sequences.

Leon Colbert was originally named Leon Corneille.

In a number of 1970s listing guides the story was called The French Revolution. This appears to derive from a promotional article in the BBC listings magazine Radio Times entitled "Dr. Who and the French Revolution".

The Radio Times programme listing for "Prisoners of Conciergerie" in certain regions did not have a synopsis itself, but was instead accompanied by a black and white head-and-shoulders shot of the Doctor in his astrakhan hat and striped scarf with the accompanying synopsis "The Reign of Terror is in full swing in Paris. Ian and Barbara are waiting for Dr. Who and Susan to arrive from prison. At last the door opens and Dr. Who walks in — not with Susan but with Lemaitre and some soldiers. Lemaitre, it transpires, is holding Susan prisoner, but he says he comes as a friend. As proof of his goodwill he tells them he connived at their escape from prison — at 5.30".

Many photographs of this story remain. Along with the soundtrack, these were used by Loose Cannon Productions to reconstruct this story (see external links). An earlier reconstruction of this story was made by Michael Palmer, although this is no longer in circulation.

It was originally intended that Verity Lambert and David Whitaker would be responsible for finding a replacement show to run during the season break. However, this did not prove necessary and the slot was filled with repeats of The Valiant Varneys.

This was the first historical in which the Doctor was seen to wear period attire. The First Doctor continued to do so in most of his stories set in Earth's past. The tradition was initially continued by the Second Doctor in The Highlanders, but as pure historical stories faded from Doctor Who, the Doctor generally abandoned this notion.

A design model of 16th century Paris was made for this story by designer Roderick Laing to help him in his work, which was later given to Carole Ann Ford as a present. Sadly, this unique piece of Doctor Who history now no longer exists; it was later accidentally smashed to pieces when her cleaning lady, whilst using a feather duster, knocked it off the top of the wardrobe where it was kept. (This was the origin of the popular myth that an elaborate model of Paris was made for the story, but unused.)[3]

During "A Land of Fear" while the Doctor and Ian are first exploring the house, the camera moves in on Ian looking through the door and hits something in front of him. A few moments later, as the Doctor and Ian walk through a doorway, a boom microphone shadow is clearly visible on the wall next to the door.

When Danielle begins clearing the dinner table during "A Change of Identity", she refers to Jean as "John", while the other characters continue to call him by his non-anglicised name.

This release contains narration by Carole Ann Ford. It contains clips and stills from "The Tyrant of France" and "A Bargain of Necessity".

The second tape contains the surviving episodes one and three of The Faceless Ones, and episode one of The Web of Fear, along with surviving 16mm black & white film clips from The Web of Fear episodes two, four and five. (Copies of episodes two, four, five and six wouldn't be returned to the BBC archives and released until 2013)

Contrary to common belief, season 10 kicked off in the last week of December 1972 — not in 1973, as would be expected. Season 10 actually began nine years after season 1 started. In fact, The Three Doctors began nine years to the week after The Daleks first aired.

For the purposes of this list, "Series 4" is considered to be the production series 4, which ran all the way from Time Crash to The End of Time.

The years seen in this section may seem decidedly "off". Remember, however, that this list only gives the first year in which an episode from a series was broadcast. David Tennant, unusual amongst other Doctors, began and ended on special episodes, not regular ones. Thus, his series actually begin in 2005, 2006 and 2007 — not 2006, 2007 and 2008 as is commonly thought.